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Want to enjoy your meal more? Close the menu

A new study finds the dissatisfaction that stems from choice overload can be mitigated by simply closing the menu after making a selection.

Photograph by: CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
, Postmedia News

We’ve all been there.

After analyzing a dizzying array of fish, chicken, pasta and beef, you finally settle on an entrée. Then the second-guessing begins, and you find yourself wondering if you’d be happier with something else.

By the time the waiter arrives, you’re still staring dumbfounded at your options, oscillating between potential meals with the frenzy of a tap dancer – when all you really had to do to feel satisfied was close the menu.

To wit, a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that acts of physical closure furnish a sense of finality and make us happier with what we’ve chosen. Not only did this novel finding hold true when the options were plentiful, it was at its most potent in those challenging conditions.

“People have very limited cognitive resources, so a lot of information can be overwhelming… They become less confident when choosing whether or not (a particular) option is the best,” said study co-author Yangjie Gu, a researcher at London Business School. “The physical act of closing the menu or putting the lid back on the (food) tray can help people think metaphorically about the concept of closure.”

This effect was demonstrated across four experiments with nearly 600 participants and a variety of items, including chocolates, biscuits and teas. The researchers also investigated the conditions in which “choice closure” was strongest by varying the type of closure, as well as the number of offered items: six versus 24.

The researchers chose 24 in light of previous literature showing that two-dozen options can cause people to feel less assured, as well as harbour greater regret about their decision outcome. But she hastens to note that, in general, it’s the challenge of the choice that matters.

“Sometimes people can find a choice difficult when there are just two options – especially if the options involve some trade-off,” said Gu, citing buying a new car as an example.

Gu, alongside colleagues David Faro and Simona Botti, also discovered that the ability to see (or not see) the non-chosen items wasn’t critical. For instance, choice closure still proved effective when people placed a transparent lid back onto a food tray.

What was important was physically returning the lid, which served as a symbolic signal of finality.

“Certain physical acts are typically associated with finishing things,” said co-author Faro. “And when they do these acts – closing a lid or a menu – it triggers the idea that: ‘Now I’m done. I’m finished with this difficult choice and can move on.’”

Two caveats are that the act of closure must be performed by the decision-maker, and the act can’t be performed before a final decision has been made.

Researchers say the implication for restaurants is clear: while a traditional book-style menu encourages closure – and thus greater choice satisfaction – patrons forced to choose from a single-sheet menu are likelier to experience diners’ remorse.

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